The Mets have acquired 35-year old switch-hitting outfielder Gary Matthews and cash ($21.5 million bucks) from the Angels for 30-year old righty reliever Brian Stokes. Matthews played in 103 games for the Angels last season and he was 79 for 316 (.250 avg, .697 OPS) with 44 runs scored, 4 homers, 50 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has now played in 1,245 games in his major league career and he is 1,045 for 4,045 (.258 avg, .740 OPS) with 603 runs scored, 108 homers, 483 RBIs and 94 stolen bases. He will likely help out and maybe even start in CF until Carlos Beltran is ready to return to action. Stokes won’t be missed too much by the Mets. He pitched in 69 games (0 starts) for the Mets last season and he was 2-4 with a 3.97 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. Stokes pitched two years with the Mets appearing in 93 games (1 start) in which he was 3-4 with 1 save, a 3.82 ERA and a 1.48 WHIP. This was a move well worth the risk as the Mets are only on the hook for $2 million bucks.

With the Mets losing out on Bengie Molina it’s appearing more likely that they will use a odd platoon of two righty swinging catchers (Omir Santos and Henry Blanco). In this set-up 28-year old Omir Santos would start against righty pitchers. He played in 96 games for the Mets last season and he was 73 for 281 (.260 avg, .687 OPS) with 28 runs scored, 7 homers and 40 RBIs. Santos played decent behind the plate last season only making three errors and having three passed balls in 91 games behind the plate. He also threw out 20% of the runners trying to steal on him last season and Mets’ pitchers had a 4.46 ERA with him behind the plate.

38-year old righty swinging Henry Blanco would start against lefties if the Mets don’t bring in another catcher before the season starts. He played in 67 games for the Padres last season and he was 48 for 204 (.235 avg, .702 OPS) with 21 runs scored, 6 homers and 16 RBIs. Blanco has never been much of a hitter but he can jack one out of the park every once in a while. He didn’t make any errors but he had 2 passed balls in 60 games behind the plate for the Padres. He still has a great throwing arm as he nailed 34% of the runners trying to steal on him last year. Padres’ pitchers had a 4.69 ERA with him behind the plate which was a tad high but it was a very young pitching staff he was dealing with.

36-year old righty swinging Chris Coste will likey make the team because he can play almost anywhere on the field. But, he played mostly at catcher last year. Coste played in 88 games for the Phillies & Astros last season and he was 46 for 205 (.224 avg, .618 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 2 homers and 18 RBIs. Coste didn’t make any errors behind the plate last season but he did have 3 passed balls in 55 games there. He only threw out 8% of the runners trying to steal against him last season and pitchers had a 4.68 ERA with him behind the dish.

23-year old lefty swinging Josh Thole is getting close to making a impact for the Mets behind the plate. He played in 17 games for the Mets last season and he was 17 for 53 (.321 avg, .752 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 9 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Thole also played in 103 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 126 for 384 (.328 avg, .817 OPS) with 48 runs scored, 1 homer, 46 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. Thole looked a little nervous in his first taste of the bigs last September behind the plate as he made 1 error and had 3 passed balls in only 16 games for the Mets. Thole threw out 1 of 5 (20%) of runners trying to steal on him last season and Mets’ pitchers had a 4.24 ERA with him behind the plate.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE CATCHERS IN 2010: D+

The Mets have signed 28-year old righty swinging IF/OF Jolbert Cabrera to a minor league deal. He played in 78 games in AAA-ball last season and he was 77 for 294 (.262 avg, .699 OPS) with 30 runs scored, 7 homers, 50 RBIs and 9 stolen bases. Cabrera has played in 609 games in his major league career and he is 362 for 1,406 (.257 avg, .670 OPS) with 189 runs scored, 18 homers, 157 RBIs and 38 stolen bases. Cabrera is a good guy to have stashed at AAA because he can play every position defensively except catcher and first base.

The Mets have signed 27-year old lefty starting pitcher Bobby Livingston to a minor league deal. He pitched in 27 games (25 starts) in AA+AAA ball last season and he was 9-7 with a 4.15 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. He last pitched in the majors in 2007 with the Reds. Livingston has pitched in 13 games (10 starts) in his major league career and he is 3-3 with a 6.31 ERA and a 1.63 WHIP. Don’t get your hopes up Mets’ fans as Livingston is not much of a pitcher.

Carlos Beltran is having microfracture surgery on his right knee which will cause him to have to be idle for 12 weeks. He is likely to miss at least all of April for the Mets putting them in a tough position. The 32-year old switch-hitting Beltran played in only 81 games for the Mets last season and he was 100 for 308 (.325 avg, .915 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 10 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has now played in 677 games in his five years with the Mets and he is 720 for 2,560 (.281 avg, .873 OPS) with 469 runs scored, 127 homers, 466 RBIs and 94 stolen bases. The Mets are lucky they held onto 28-year old switch-hitting outfielder Angel Pagan whose name kept coming up in trade rumors because he will replace Beltran until he is ready to play again. Pagan played in 88 games for the Mets last season and he was 105 for 343 (.306 avg, .837 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 6 homers, 32 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.